2 Kings 11

1

Now when Athali'ah the mother of Ahazi'ah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family.

2

But Jehosh'eba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahazi'ah, took Jo'ash the son of Ahazi'ah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be slain, and she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. Thus she hid him from Athali'ah, so that he was not slain;

3

and he remained with her six years, hid in the house of the LORD, while Athali'ah reigned over the land.

4

But in the seventh year Jehoi'ada sent and brought the captains of the Carites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the LORD; and he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the LORD, and he showed them the king's son.

5

And he commanded them, "This is the thing that you shall do: one third of you, those who come off duty on the sabbath and guard the king's house

6

(another third being at the gate Sur and a third at the gate behind the guards), shall guard the palace;

7

and the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the sabbath and guard the house of the LORD,

8

shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever approaches the ranks is to be slain. Be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in."

9

The captains did according to all that Jehoi'ada the priest commanded, and each brought his men who were to go off duty on the sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the sabbath, and came to Jehoi'ada the priest.

10

And the priest delivered to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the LORD;

11

and the guards stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house.

12

Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they proclaimed him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, "Long live the king!"

13

When Athali'ah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the LORD to the people;

14

and when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athali'ah rent her clothes, and cried, "Treason! Treason!"

15

Then Jehoi'ada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, "Bring her out between the ranks; and slay with the sword any one who follows her." For the priest said, "Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD."

16

So they laid hands on her; and she went through the horses' entrance to the king's house, and there she was slain.

17

And Jehoi'ada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD's people; and also between the king and the people.

18

Then all the people of the land went to the house of Ba'al, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they slew Mattan the priest of Ba'al before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the LORD.

19

And he took the captains, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD, marching through the gate of the guards to the king's house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings.

20

So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet after Athali'ah had been slain with the sword at the king's house.

21

Jeho'ash was seven years old when he began to reign.

2 Kings 12

1

In the seventh year of Jehu Jeho'ash began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zib'iah of Beer-sheba.

2

And Jeho'ash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all his days, because Jehoi'ada the priest instructed him.

3

Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places.

4

Jeho'ash said to the priests, "All the money of the holy things which is brought into the house of the LORD, the money for which each man is assessed--the money from the assessment of persons--and the money which a man's heart prompts him to bring into the house of the LORD,

5

let the priests take, each from his acquaintance; and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered."

6

But by the twenty-third year of King Jeho'ash the priests had made no repairs on the house.

7

Therefore King Jeho'ash summoned Jehoi'ada the priest and the other priests and said to them, "Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore take no more money from your acquaintances, but hand it over for the repair of the house."

8

So the priests agreed that they should take no more money from the people, and that they should not repair the house.

9

Then Jehoi'ada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the LORD; and the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD.

10

And whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest came up and they counted and tied up in bags the money that was found in the house of the LORD.

11

Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD; and they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked upon the house of the LORD,

12

and to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the LORD, and for any outlay upon the repairs of the house.

13

But there were not made for the house of the LORD basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, from the money that was brought into the house of the LORD,

14

for that was given to the workmen who were repairing the house of the LORD with it.

15

And they did not ask an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly.

16

The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests.

17

At that time Haz'ael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it. But when Haz'ael set his face to go up against Jerusalem,

18

Jeho'ash king of Judah took all the votive gifts that Jehosh'aphat and Jeho'ram and Ahazi'ah, his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own votive gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and of the king's house, and sent these to Haz'ael king of Syria. Then Haz'ael went away from Jerusalem.

19

Now the rest of the acts of Jo'ash, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

20

His servants arose and made a conspiracy, and slew Jo'ash in the house of Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla.

21

It was Jo'zacar the son of Shim'e-ath and Jeho'zabad the son of Shomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Amazi'ah his son reigned in his stead.

2 Kings 13

1

In the twenty-third year of Jo'ash the son of Ahazi'ah, king of Judah, Jeho'ahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Sama'ria, and he reigned seventeen years.

2

He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them.

3

And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Haz'ael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-ha'dad the son of Haz'ael.

4

Then Jeho'ahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened to him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them.

5

(Therefore the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians; and the people of Israel dwelt in their homes as formerly.

6

Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jerobo'am, which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Ashe'rah also remained in Sama'ria.)

7

For there was not left to Jeho'ahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.

8

Now the rest of the acts of Jeho'ahaz and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

9

So Jeho'ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Sama'ria; and Jo'ash his son reigned in his stead.

10

In the thirty-seventh year of Jo'ash king of Judah Jeho'ash the son of Jeho'ahaz began to reign over Israel in Sama'ria, and he reigned sixteen years.

11

He also did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them.

12

Now the rest of the acts of Jo'ash, and all that he did, and the might with which he fought against Amazi'ah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

13

So Jo'ash slept with his fathers, and Jerobo'am sat upon his throne; and Jo'ash was buried in Sama'ria with the kings of Israel.

14

Now when Eli'sha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Jo'ash king of Israel went down to him, and wept before him, crying, "My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!"

15

And Eli'sha said to him, "Take a bow and arrows"; so he took a bow and arrows.

16

Then he said to the king of Israel, "Draw the bow"; and he drew it. And Eli'sha laid his hands upon the king's hands.

17

And he said, "Open the window eastward"; and he opened it. Then Eli'sha said, "Shoot"; and he shot. And he said, "The LORD's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them."

18

And he said, "Take the arrows"; and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground with them"; and he struck three times, and stopped.

19

Then the man of God was angry with him, and said, "You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times."

20

So Eli'sha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year.

21

And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Eli'sha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Eli'sha, he revived, and stood on his feet.

22

Now Haz'ael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jeho'ahaz.

23

But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and he turned toward them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them; nor has he cast them from his presence until now.

24

When Haz'ael king of Syria died, Ben-ha'dad his son became king in his stead.

25

Then Jeho'ash the son of Jeho'ahaz took again from Ben-ha'dad the son of Haz'ael the cities which he had taken from Jeho'ahaz his father in war. Three times Jo'ash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.

2 Kings 14

1

In the second year of Jo'ash the son of Jo'ahaz, king of Israel, Amazi'ah the son of Jo'ash, king of Judah, began to reign.

2

He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jeho-ad'din of Jerusalem.

3

And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not like David his father; he did in all things as Jo'ash his father had done.

4

But the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

5

And as soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand he killed his servants who had slain the king his father.

6

But he did not put to death the children of the murderers; according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the LORD commanded, "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, or the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall die for his own sin."

7

He killed ten thousand E'domites in the Valley of Salt and took Sela by storm, and called it Jok'the-el, which is its name to this day.

8

Then Amazi'ah sent messengers to Jeho'ash the son of Jeho'ahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us look one another in the face."

9

And Jeho'ash king of Israel sent word to Amazi'ah king of Judah, "A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son for a wife'; and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle.

10

You have indeed smitten Edom, and your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory, and stay at home; for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?"

11

But Amazi'ah would not listen. So Jeho'ash king of Israel went up, and he and Amazi'ah king of Judah faced one another in battle at Beth-she'mesh, which belongs to Judah.

12

And Judah was defeated by Israel, and every man fled to his home.

13

And Jeho'ash king of Israel captured Amazi'ah king of Judah, the son of Jeho'ash, son of Ahazi'ah, at Beth-she'mesh, and came to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits, from the E'phraim Gate to the Corner Gate.

14

And he seized all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Sama'ria.

15

Now the rest of the acts of Jeho'ash which he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amazi'ah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

16

And Jeho'ash slept with his fathers, and was buried in Sama'ria with the kings of Israel; and Jerobo'am his son reigned in his stead.

17

Amazi'ah the son of Jo'ash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jeho'ash son of Jeho'ahaz, king of Israel.

18

Now the rest of the deeds of Amazi'ah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

19

And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.

20

And they brought him upon horses; and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David.

21

And all the people of Judah took Azari'ah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amazi'ah.

22

He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.

23

In the fifteenth year of Amazi'ah the son of Jo'ash, king of Judah, Jerobo'am the son of Jo'ash, king of Israel, began to reign in Sama'ria, and he reigned forty-one years.

24

And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

25

He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amit'tai, the prophet, who was from Gath-he'pher.

26

For the LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel.

27

But the LORD had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jerobo'am the son of Jo'ash.

28

Now the rest of the acts of Jerobo'am, and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he recovered for Israel Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

29

And Jerobo'am slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechari'ah his son reigned in his stead.

2 Kings 15

1

In the twenty-seventh year of Jerobo'am king of Israel Azari'ah the son of Amazi'ah, king of Judah, began to reign.

2

He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoli'ah of Jerusalem.

3

And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amazi'ah had done.

4

Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

5

And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death, and he dwelt in a separate house. And Jotham the king's son was over the household, governing the people of the land.

6

Now the rest of the acts of Azari'ah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

7

And Azari'ah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

8

In the thirty-eighth year of Azari'ah king of Judah Zechari'ah the son of Jerobo'am reigned over Israel in Sama'ria six months.

9

And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

10

Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and struck him down at Ibleam, and killed him, and reigned in his stead.

11

Now the rest of the deeds of Zechari'ah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

12

(This was the promise of the LORD which he gave to Jehu, "Your sons shall sit upon the throne of Israel to the fourth generation." And so it came to pass.)

13

Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of Uzzi'ah king of Judah, and he reigned one month in Sama'ria.

14

Then Men'ahem the son of Gadi came up from Tirzah and came to Sama'ria, and he struck down Shallum the son of Jabesh in Sama'ria and slew him, and reigned in his stead.

15

Now the rest of the deeds of Shallum, and the conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

16

At that time Men'ahem sacked Tappuah and all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on; because they did not open it to him, therefore he sacked it, and he ripped up all the women in it who were with child.

17

In the thirty-ninth year of Azari'ah king of Judah Men'ahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, and he reigned ten years in Sama'ria.

18

And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

19

Pul the king of Assyria came against the land; and Men'ahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that he might help him to confirm his hold of the royal power.

20

Men'ahem exacted the money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels of silver from every man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and did not stay there in the land.

21

Now the rest of the deeds of Men'ahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

22

And Men'ahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahi'ah his son reigned in his stead.

23

In the fiftieth year of Azari'ah king of Judah Pekahi'ah the son of Men'ahem began to reign over Israel in Sama'ria, and he reigned two years.

24

And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not turn away from the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

25

And Pekah the son of Remali'ah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the Gileadites, and slew him in Sama'ria, in the citadel of the king's house; he slew him, and reigned in his stead.

26

Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahi'ah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

27

In the fifty-second year of Azari'ah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remali'ah began to reign over Israel in Sama'ria, and reigned twenty years.

28

And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.

29

In the days of Pekah king of Israel Tig'lath-pile'ser king of Assyria came and captured I'jon, A'bel-beth-ma'acah, Jan-o'ah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naph'tali; and he carried the people captive to Assyria.

30

Then Hoshe'a the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remali'ah, and struck him down, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzzi'ah.

31

Now the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

32

In the second year of Pekah the son of Remali'ah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzzi'ah, king of Judah, began to reign.

33

He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jeru'sha the daughter of Zadok.

34

And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzzi'ah had done.

35

Nevertheless the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the LORD.

36

Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

37

In those days the LORD began to send Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remali'ah against Judah.

38

Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.